UW hires Stanford assistant Kelsey

Veteran of seven Final Fours as coach and player takes helm

MADISON, Wis. -- Bobbie Kelsey, who, as an assistant coach at Stanford helped lead the Cardinal to the NCAA Final Four in each of the last four seasons, was named the sixth head coach in UW women's basketball history on Monday.

"I am thrilled to be able to welcome Bobbie to the Badger family," Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said. "Her record of success everywhere she has been speaks for itself. I was obviously very impressed with her resume and was convinced she was the right person for the job once I got the chance to meet with her in person. She has a definite plan for how to bring success to our women's basketball team and the knowledge and enthusiasm to execute that plan."

In her four seasons as an assistant at Stanford, the Cardinal compiled a 137-14 (.907) record, including a 69-3 (.958) mark in Pac-10 conference play, and advanced to the Final Four each year. Stanford's streak of four-consecutive Final Fours is tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA history. Prior to Kelsey's arrival, Stanford had not advanced to the Final Four since 1997.

"This is a tremendous opportunity and I am very appreciative that Coach Alvarez has put his trust in me," Kelsey said. "This program has excellent support, terrific resources and Madison is a wonderful community. It can be a great program and my intention and goal is to make it a great program."

In addition to coaching at Stanford under Hall of Fame head coach Tara VanDerveer for the last four seasons, Kelsey was a four-year letterwinner at Stanford from 1992-96. She helped the Cardinal to three Final Four appearances in five years as a player, including the 1992 NCAA championship. Kelsey was a team co-captain in 1995 and 1996, voted the team's Most Inspirational Player in 1992 and 1996, and named the team's most improved player in 1993. She earned her bachelor's degree in communications from Stanford in 1996.

"We are thrilled for Bobbie and for the opportunity she has earned at Wisconsin," said VanDerveer, who became the ninth women's coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame on April 6. "Bobbie has done an outstanding job here at Stanford over the past four years and truthfully it is bittersweet to see her leave. I know that she will continue to do a fine job in Madison, and we wish her the absolute best."

Stanford just completed its 2010-11 season with yet another Final Four appearance. The Cardinal finished with a 33-3 record, falling to Texas A&M on a lay-up in the final seconds in the national semifinal. Stanford earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament after going a perfect 18-0 in Pac-10 play and winning the conference tournament.

Among the milestones achieved by the Cardinal was running their Pac-10 winning streak to 49 games and snapping Connecticut's NCAA-record 90-game winning streak with a victory against the Huskies on Dec. 30.

In 2009-10, Stanford set a program record with 36 wins as the Cardinal went 36-2 and captured the Pac-10 double (regular season and tournament titles) while going 18-0 in Pac-10 play for the fifth time in program history. That followed a season in which Kelsey helped the Cardinal to a 33-5 overall record as well as the program's ninth consecutive Pac-10 regular season title and sixth Pac-10 Tournament crown.

Kelsey's first season on the Stanford coaching staff saw the Cardinal make its seventh appearance in the Final Four, and first since 1997. The Cardinal also reached the national championship game for the first time since 1992, Kelsey's first season as a player.

Kelsey was instrumental in transforming Stanford into one of the best defensive teams in the country. The top-3 scoring defense seasons in Stanford history came during Kelsey's tenure as an assistant as the Cardinal has not allowed more than 56.0 points for the season in the last three years.

Prior to returning to Stanford, Kelsey spent three seasons at Virginia Tech, helping guide the Hokies to three consecutive postseason appearances, including NCAA tournament berths in 2005 and 2006.

From 2002-04, Kelsey served as an assistant coach at Western Carolina and worked primarily with the post players while assisting with recruiting and camps. She coached 2002-03 Southern Conference Player of the Year Tiffany Hamm as well as Jennifer Gardner, the league's most accurate shooter that same year, making over 51 percent of her shots.

Kelsey spent the 2000-02 seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Evansville. Prior to her stint with the Aces, she was an assistant coach at Florida for two seasons where she was responsible for film exchange, scouting and coaching the posts. Kelsey helped the Lady Gators to back-to-back postseason appearances, including an NCAA tournament trip in 1999 and a trip to the WNIT championship game versus Wisconsin in 2000.

Prior to her tenure at Florida, Kelsey served as a practice player for the Atlanta Glory of the American Basketball League for one year and as an assistant at Boise State in 1996-97.